The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1887-10-20
new lot O. steers just druv in from

river a-thinkin' Of Injun trouble then.
an as for Ed an me. we hadn't seen
one for nigh a year. We stayed close
round the, ranch here though, for a
week after the boys went off Then We
began to feel mighty restless.
Then, too, we was expectin' the
boys back ev'ry hour. W. calculated
'wouldent be no harm to leave the
ranch for half a days hunt. We was
tired O. beef and bacon, an we knew
where to 60 to find plenty of ante
lope.
I'VE saddled- our ponies. an struck
out that afternoon. We rode up into
the rock country bout ~ miles north
O here. 'moung the big canyons an
cuts, an we found plenty of antelope.
We killed five by dark, but by the time
we could gather their saddles an pack
our extra horses. which we'd took two.
an get back to the ranch, it was nigh
daylight next morning.
The boys hadn't come, so, as we
was mighty tired an hungry an sleepy,
we turned our ponies in with the other
stock in the big corral, and got us some
breakfast; then we piled onto a couple
of hunks and was soon sleepin'
Il was woke up by a punch in the
ribs, an when I'd come. to myself
'nough to git my eyes rubbed open, I
saw that there was half a dozen naked,
greasy Cheyennes in the room, stand
ing around a-grinnin' at us. I saw,
too. that Ed was awake, an that they
had gathered up all our shootIn' irons,
and that we was both p~ris'ners in our
own shanty.
Il needn't tell ye that we both felt
mighty foolish and badly scared, though
we put on as bold q face as we could,
Ed was the bravest, though, and the
coolest. He'd been a trapeze perform
er along with Montgomery Queens big
show. He was all muscles an siners,
up to all sorts of tricks, and as spry as
a cat.
WAL, sir, soon as Ed saw how
twas, he reached out his hand to the
nearest buck an says, says e: How
do, brudderP'
"'How?' says the Injun, an all of
'em grunted and grinned.
"But jest then there was a terrible
commotion and a-yellin' outside, an
two or three of the Injuns rushed out.
The others wanted to see the rumpus,
too, I Expect, for they turned to us, and
motioned us out Of the door. We got
up and walked out, with an Injun in
front an two behind us. AS we got
out the door we heard q frightful yell
in outside the stockade. There was
six or v Cheyennes dancin' and
screechin' like they'd gone plumb
crazy. But the biggest fun was goin'
on inside the stock corral, and we soon
saw that the dancin' bucks was a-laugh-
in, though you'd never guess at that
by jest listenin' to 'em.
"You see. one of their fellows, think
in of course he'd have an easy job, had
rode into the corral to drive out the
stock, there was thirteen ridin' ponies
and three or four colts. But there was
a customer in there that the Cheyenne
hadn't reckoned on. 1t was a big jack,
jest the ugliest, orneriest critter ever
you set eyes on. He never lowed any
stranger inside that corral if he could
help it, an he gently could. an that
was n reason we KEEP him.
oval, he'd got after Nj. Cheyenne.
an he was goin'for him most savagely.
"When we first saw the race, the
Injun was clear upon his pony's neck,
a-clinging for dear life, and the jack
was right up alongside. with his jaws
wide open. The Cheyenne had lost
hold O. his reins, an was jest hangin'
owe on the opposite side of the horses
neck, an there they was, goin' round
and round, the jack a-grabbin' and
bitin' at the Injun, an a-brayin' an
s~auealin' till you could a heerd him a
mile. An the best of it all was, that
them Cheyenne outside all seemed to
think it was the biggest kind of fun.
Talk about an Injuh's not laughin'.
why, fellows, they busted their throats.
They clapped their hands onto their
stomachs. an doubled up like jack
knives. Ed and me laughed too. I don't
believe we could "a helped it if we'd
known they'd kill us the next minute.
''But matters soon begun to get pref
ty ser Gus inside the corral; the Injun
darsn't git off his pony. for he could
see mighty plain that jack was after
him.
He'd "a got the fellow, too, if his
pony, hadn't a-ben such a smart little
~critter; the mustang seemed to know
that his master was in danger, for he
kept fyin' right around in a short
circle, keepin' away from the fence.
and keepin' the jack on the outside o.
his circle. ~ ~,~
But the Injun was awful sacred; he
couldn't use his weapons if he had any,
an he just hung on an yelled to the
others for help, Expect, though, Of.
course, we couldn't understand. But
it must a-ben, for pretty soon they
stopped their laughing, an all but two
that was left to guard us jumped on
their ponies, rode into the corral. an
with a big whoop made a dash for the
jack.